Egg factory farm fire burns near Petaluma
Firefighters are investigating a blaze that engulfed an egg factory farm in unincorporated Petaluma Thursday, incinerating the main barn and choking the air with black smoke.
The first unit to respond shortly before 2:30 p.m. confronted a threatening scene: a barn fully devoured by flames that spread to the grass, said Jeff Veliquette, chief of the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District in Sonoma County. Quickly, firefighters upgraded the call to a two-alarm fire, summoning additional engines and water tenders — trucks carrying up to 2,000 gallons of water.
Nestled at 700 Cavanaugh Lane, the farm sits in a large, flat grid of barren grassland, raggedly dotted with trees and devoid of fire hydrants. Hence the need for water tenders, Veliquette said, noting that Rancho Adobe crews used seven of them, along with 14 engines.
As wind picked up out of the west, it pushed the smoke column back to the ground, making it difficult to see the extent and path of the fire, Veliquette said. They sought help from a Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter that was already in flight and swooped in to monitor the blaze, dispatching information to the ground crews. When flames caught a second set of barns, firefighters were able to save them, Veliquette said.
After a two-hour battle crews had the upper hand of the fire, which in the end demolished the large barn but caused no inuries, according to Veliquette, because it was empty at the time. No poultry were killed and nearby workers managed to evacuate.
James Doolittle watched the action unfold through the windows of his dog day care and boarding facility on Skillman Lane, about 500 yards from the eruption.
“It exploded,” Doolittle said in a phone interview, describing how smoky plumes blanketed the horizon, growing thick before they eventually turned white and dissipated.
By then, several fire engines had sped by to reach the fire at Skillman and Cavanaugh lanes. Looking up, Doolittle saw the sheriff’s helicopter circling overhead. Outside his window, a motorcyclist did wheelies down the street, with flames dancing in the background.
Billowing smoke and the stench of burning industrial materials drew other onlookers, including five people from the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, who rushed in to rescue trapped or injured birds. They stood at the periphery of the farm, taking photos and gathering drone footage of the collapsed barn, ready to mobilize if necessary, according to a group spokesperson. Members later heard from the chief that no animals had been hurt.
Though the investigation is continuing, Veliquette said officials “don’t have any reason to believe (the fire) is suspicious.”